Iele
Iele 'is a feline hybrid living in the swamp near Midian City, most frequently seen at the gypsy camp or the Snake Pit. Background Iele was raised at Vancouver Companion Facilities, LLC, in fairly standard conditions for a pet mill: she was fed, cleaned, and provided with medical care, but little else. Around age 8, she was purchased by a young man, who she would from then on call Master. ''((quote will go here if I can find what the hell Firestorm did with my chat logs)) She was never explicitly named, but her owner was wont to saying things like, "You are my Iele," so she believes this is her name. She makes an effort to pronounce it the way Nice Lady did, which is the proper Romanian pronunciation. At first, however, she mispronounced it as "Yaley," and so several members of the Midian community may know her as such. Cast of Characters '''Master is the only name Iele knows to call her former owner. Nice Lady '''is the title Iele gives the old woman who occasionally visited her master, sometimes "petsitting" her. When this woman realized Iele was picking up language, she taught her some words in secret, as well as showing her the alphabet. Iele has also alluded to her leaving the door unlocked and warning her about the collar's tracking system, and considers her to be the person who set her free. It is unclear if this factual, or a case of unreliable narrator. She has heard Master call this woman "Tuşă" on occasion. '''Food Lady is the caregiver at the white room. She was indifferent to the children, providing them sustenance and keeping them clean without any real signs of affection. Despite the lack of emotional investment, Iele considers her a betrayer of sorts, as Food Lady was the closest thing Iele had to a mother during her early years. Locations Master's House is where Iele spent most of her time after being bought. It is a large apartment, located in a city somewhere on Vancouver Island. The white room is where Iele was raised during her early years, along with myriad other feline hybrids (some of which may have been her siblings or cousins). She was purchased from there around age 8. Description Physical Iele is a female feline hybrid of medium build and slightly above average height. Her features are largely caucasian, though given that she's one generation shy of "build to order," that doesn't mean much. Her skin is a consistent light tan, and her hair and fur are varying shades of brown. Striations on her ears and tail are characteristic of a tabby cat. Unlike most hybrids, her ears are positioned the same as human ears would be; however, they have the shape and mobility of feline ears. Her eyes are a goldish-brown, with large irises and slit pupils that neither expand nor constrict quite as far as a true cat's can. She's overall in pretty good condition; there are a few faint scars on her neck and her feet, small moles or freckles here and there. Though her hair is thick and her tail and ears are furred, the rest of her is largely hair free. Combine that with her build, and you might suspect she was bred with a purpose in mind. ''--RP 10/3/2015 (NSFW image)'' Identifying markings are hard to come by; she has no visible birthmarks and a few scattered moles (small enough to call freckles, but not clustered). She has a few very faint scars on her neck--on close examination, they are vertical scratches along the sides of her neck. She keeps pretty clean, showering every day or every other day, but makes minimal effort to style her hair or otherwise augment her appearance. The shampoo she uses has faint rosemary and honeysuckle scents. Personality Iele tends to come off as innocent or naive due to her lack of language skills and natural curiosity. However, she is an adult, and expects to be treated as such--though she may not always recognize when she isn't. Due to her upbringing, Iele can be obedient and eager to please, though she is adamant about a few things. She will quickly correct someone who calls her a pet, or who tries to get her to do something that she truly does not wish to do. On those occasions that she refuses to do something, it is somewhat easier than average to manipulate or coerce her. If a name is not given to her, she will make one up, usually a title (such as Nice Lady or Fish Man). It should be clear from her neutral or cheerful tone that these are not used with malicious intent; however, some could no doubt be misconstrued as such. If Iele's poor language skills are met with mockery or harsh criticism, she may shut down completely, refusing to speak. She may appear more fearful than the words should have made her, due to fear of punishment for speaking at all. Involvement Gypsies Iele lives at the gypsy camp in the swamp near the ruins of Midian city. She helps with cooking and maintaining the site in exchange for a place to stay, food to eat, and occasional lessons on speaking like a normal person. Snake Pit Iele works as a bartender and dancer at the Snake Pit. Though she originally declined doing anything more, she has been... coerced... into doing a little more than dancing. She typically works evenings and late nights, due to being expected to help at the camp ((IRL time restrictions)). Dragons Iele visits members of the Dragons now and then, in various locations. It could be a coincidence, but since she runs into them often with little negative consequence, she now associates that leather jacket with something akin to comfort and safety. Hybrids Iele has not met very many hybrids in her new home, but several have made an impact. RP Details and Minutiae Abilities & Traits These are the traits selected (for balance/bookkeeping purposes) from the Hybrid Information page: * Above-average Speed: Iele is very quick and agile. * Night vision: Iele can see in extremely low-light conditions. Physical Attributes Somewhat typical of feline hybrids, Iele is fairly agile, but not particularly strong. If her tail's movement is restricted, her balance is thrown off considerably. Senses * Vision: Slightly farsighted (Rx would be around +1.5), can see a significantly better in dim conditions than human. Color vision slightly weaker than typical human; vision in very dark conditions is greyscale. * Hearing: '''About average for hybrid--a little better than human. ** Due to lack of experience using sound to learn about her surroundings, she is temporarily treated as having plain human hearing. ** Her audible frequency range is slightly larger than a human's (20 Hz - 40 kHz, as opposed to the human 20 Hz - 20 kHz), but sounds above human range are much fainter and cannot be heard at long distances. *** Due to this extended range, she can hear most dog whistles. However, she is less irritated by them than most hybrids with extended audio ranges are, because the volume is reduced for her. * '''Tactile: Human baseline (plus tail). Has some hypersensitivity around breasts, abdomen, and lower back. * Smell: Better than human, but still below average for hybrid. ** Due to lack of experience using scent to learn about her surroundings, she is temporarily treated as having plain human sense of smell. * Taste: Same as human, aside from effects of heightened sense of smell. D&D Stats (for funsies) Mental Attributes Iele is not unintelligent, just uneducated. She is also fairly perceptive... when she bothers to pay attention to her surroundings. This is difficult sometimes, as she is somewhat easy to distract when not in distress. She puts a great deal of effort into pleasing others, and tends to adapt her attitude to what she believes is expected of her. There are fairly few things she is truly adamant about. Iele tends to be plainly honest. This may get her in trouble someday. Language Skills Iele speaks English. Her vocabulary is very limited, but is growing as she learns from everyone she talks to. She will sometimes use the wrong words, due to poor vocabulary, but can interpret most words in context. ((Goal: Have her speaking mostly normally by the time the city build is released.)) She knows a very small number of words in Romanian; these she knows only in Romanian (until she is taught otherwise). If she is corrected without being told that the word she used is correct in another language, she'll switch to using the English term almost exclusively. * pix - (ballpoint) pen. She refers to any writing utensil as such. * fluiera - whistle. Has had the term "whistle" explained, and will now favor "whistle." * ţâţe (tzatze or tsitse) - breasts (she uses as though it's the only word for breasts, but it translates nearer to "tits" or "boobs") * futu-i! - fuck! (interjection) * futa-te - fuck off (literally "go fuck yourself") * c'e dracu?' - What the hell? * bulangiu - jerk, asshole. She only uses this for people she finds particularly mean or petty. Does not apply it to Master, however. Iele can't read, but does recognize a handful of words, including her name (when spelled correctly, though she writes it IeLe), though she may not recognize a word if the case is different (e.g., "DANGER" but not "danger"). She knows most English letters, though generally writes each only in uppercase or lowercase: ABcDeFGHIjkLMNopQRsTuvwXyz She also recognizes a fair number of common symbols, such as the "poisonous" symbol, medical cross, and caduceus. As a rule of thumb, if it has a direct meaning as a warning and could have been seen in her prior environment, or if it's a drawing with clear symbolism (skull, people-figures doing things, symbols crossed out), she can figure it out. Accent Iele's accent is hard to pinpoint. The way she speaks is meant to mimic someone who is just learning to talk. The phonemes and grammar just aren't quite right. Generally, an attempt is made to indicate when something is pronounced VERY oddly (e.g., jaggerlanner for jack o' lantern, or mamagent for management). The following are examples and general rules for when it's close enough to not change the spelling all the time: While Iele is from the Pacific northwest and has mostly been surrounded by people speaking a mixture of American English and Romanian, her vowel pronunciation and rhythm are both odd. Iele does not drop or shorten -ing, but overenunciates it somewhat. Words that end in a vowel sound before the -ing are generally pronounced with a slight glottal stop. Examples: Go'eeng, walkeeng, tell'eeng, try'ying. Iele has some difficulty with diphthongs like ei (long A), ao (as in "wow"), and ai (long I). These tend to be drawn out or simplified. Examples: I = Ayee, wow = waaoh, neighbor = nayy-bore In general, B, V, and P can get mixed up, as can F and unvoiced TH (θ). These are not particularly consistent. Occasionally, she will use the voiced TH (ð) where there should be unvoiced. D&D Stats (for funsies) The low INT score primarily represents a lack of education, and may be expected to improve somewhat over time. Inventory I try to make everything worn (or visible carried) display on av, or indicate by titler or chat. If not carried, items are left in a red backpack, in a tent at the gypsy camp. Inventory in Picks will be updated more frequently. Once Iele has a secure place to keep things, only items that are easy to find will be listed there. Please contact me in-world if you want to steal my stuff. * Clothing ** Black longsleeved shirt ** Grey T-shirt, oversized ** Grey tank top ** Ratty blue jeans, a little too small ** Well-fitting blue jeans ** Pink lacy underwear (panties only), in pretty bad condition ** Black and pink sneakers, fairly new ** Red and black dress, fairly new ** Purple and black masquerade/harlequin mask * Currency ** Cash from her job at the Snake Pit. Contact in-world for details if you're interested in theft/mugging. * Weapons ** none * Misc ** Microchip, implanted behind left ear *** Iele is unaware of this, though has made reference to "stabbed my ear" when she was purchased. *** Tracks her location, but is meeting quite a bit of interference in the swamp. **** This has caused it to generate more heat than usual, making her ear itch. ** 1 roll of gauze (standard MCMC fare) ** 1 bottle of antibiotic capsules, about half remaining ** 1 full tube of antibiotic ointment ** A napkin with the English alphabet written on it, in upper and lower case. OOC Trivia * The Iele are nymph-like spirits in Romanian folklore. * Ameretat would be interested in RPing interaction with NPCs of Master and/or Nice Lady, at some point after the city is rebuilt IC. See also External links * Iele in the Swamp on Flickr * Wikipedia: Iele Category:Characters